Coconino and Tonto National Forests; Arizona; Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River Comprehensive River Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement

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The Coconino and Tonto national forests are preparing a Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP) for the Fossil Creek Wild and Scenic River, designated by Congress in 2009. Fossil Creek is located within the administrative boundaries of the Coconino and Tonto National Forests. Fossil Creek is the only intact perennial system with continuous flow without any water diversions in Arizona and is the only uninterrupted river system between the Verde River and the Mogollon Rim, spanning and connecting a number of biotic communities from upper Sonoran desert scrub through ponderosa pine forests. In response to the approximately 17-mile river Wild and Scenic River corridor designation, the Forest Service must establish a CRMP, in accordance with the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act (WSRA), to provide detailed direction, implementation actions, and monitoring to protect or enhance outstandingly remarkable values (ORVs) of the Wild and Scenic River. Since full flows returned to Fossil Creek with the decommissioning of a historic hydropower dam in 2005, public use has dramatically increased. Impacts from recreational use have threatened the river's water quality, free-flowing condition and its OR